Former Revere resident charged with $2.5 million in COVID relief fraud, allegedly used on cars and crypto

A former Revere resident and owner of a local painting company is facing up to 20 years in prison for allegedly filing a fraudulent loan application to obtain $2.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program loan funds under the CARES Act.

Vinicius Santana, 34 — who now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, and previously owned Complete Home Care, LLC — was arrested Monday at Miami International Airport and charged with one count of wire fraud, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins.

He appeared Tuesday in a Miami federal court and will appear in Massachusetts at a later date.  

In April 2020, Santana allegedly submitted four different PPP loan applications for his painting company, according to charging documents.

On the first three applications, which were denied, Santana allegedly listed five employees and an average monthly payroll of between $10,000 and $18,000.

On the fourth application, it is alleged that Santana falsely claimed to have 154 employees and an average monthly payroll of $1 million. Based on those claims, a bank issued Santana’s company a $2.5 million loan on May 11, 2020, according to authorities.

Santana is accused of misusing the loan funds to buy cars and invest in cryptocurrency, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The CARES Act was enacted into federal law on March 29, 2020 to help provide millions of Americans with emergency financial assistance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of such relief came through PPP loans.

In addition to up to 20 years in prison, Santana could face a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme – whichever is greater – and three years of supervised release.

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